PAPER TITLE :SUB-ACUTE TOXICITY STUDIES OF ETHANOL AND N-HEXANE CRUDE SEED EXTRACTS OF ANNONA MURICATA IN ALBINO RATS

FUTA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE | VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 2015

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : V.O. Nwaneri-Chidozie1, F.M. Idih1, A.J. Salemcity and E.Ekpa
  • Abstract:

The present study was aimed at evaluating the acute toxicity of ethanol and n-hexane seed extracts of Annona muricata in rats. The animals were treated with the extracts at the doses of 10mg/kg, 50mg/kg, 100mg/kg, 1000mg/kg, 1500mg/kg, 3000mg/kg and 5000mg/kg. The degree of toxicity was assessed using changes in biochemical parameters such as lipid profile, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), urea and creatinine. LD50 was determined for the extracts and there was no record of death in the treated animals. However, the treated rats had a significant decrease (P<0.05) in triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol when compared to the control group. There was also a decrease in malondialdehyde concentration in the treated animals compared to the control group. There were no significant (P<0.05) changes in alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, urea and creatinine concentrations in the treated animals compared to the control. A significant decrease (P<0.05) was observed in the final body weights of the treated animals. The results of the present study suggest that Annona muricata seed extracts (ethanol and n-hexane) could be considered safe within the doses of ≤ 5000mg/kg and exhibit hypolipidemic effect. This study also reveals that the extracts could be a potent agent for the management of coronary heart diseases and obesity. Keywords: Acute toxicity, Hypolipidemic, Annona muricata, Low density lipoprotein.